MARTIN COUNTY — MARTY buses will be back in service July 24, following breakdowns, delays and more than three weeks of service by alternate buses.
MARTY, the county’s public-transit system, took all 14 of its buses out of service July 1 when its new operator, Martin County Transit LLC, took over. Martin County Transit could not immediately get insurance for the fleet.
“Martin County Transit LLC obtained the necessary insurance and will begin operating the MARTY buses tomorrow” (July 24), Karen Deigl, president and CEO of Senior Resource Association, which owns Martin County Transit LLC, said late afternoon July 23.
Obtaining commercial insurance is different than obtaining personal insurance, Deigl said. That forced Martin County Transit to temporarily use buses of different sizes and branding on established Martin County routes.
Eight buses branded Community Coach, Indiantown Shuttle or Senior Resource have been picking up passengers on MARTY’s nine routes since July 1.
But riders have had problems. Four of the buses broke down, with the longest interruption in service lasting 24 hours. A wheelchair lift needed to be repaired. And one bus stranded a person, Martin County spokesperson Martha Ann Kneiss confirmed.
Buses placed in service by Senior Resource Association — the Vero Beach organization that runs GoLine transit system in Indian River County and won the bid to run MARTY — were up to 12 years old, according to Martin County and SRA.
Nine MARTY buses are to be back in operation and on regular schedules July 24, according to Deigl. A real-time route planner will be operational as well, so riders can see the actual location of all nine buses.
And MARTY will be free to riders until Aug. 1, Deigl said.
It was unclear late July 23 how Martin County will be letting riders know of the change. Previously changes were communicated at least on the Martin County website and on social media.
Keith Burbank is TCPalm’s watchdog reporter covering Martin County. He can be reached at keith.burbank@tcpalm.com or at 720-288-6882.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Martin County’s public-transit buses to resume operation July 24
Reporting by Keith Burbank, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
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